tasting notes from the north

Vindemia Criança 1998 – Mature white from Terra Alta

How often do you drink whites with a decade or more of cellartime? Are you anything like me then the answer is: almost never and certainly not often enough!

Apart from the odd old German riesling the whites we consume tend to be young fresh and acidic (and to be honest that riesling is still young, fresh and acidic when we sample it!).

Just therefore is it so cool to find wines that do not easily conform to the ordinary mold. Wines that do go against the common perception of what is “good” (Viña Todonia comes to mind). And this is such a wine.

I found it in a dansih wine bar in Copenhagen – and the owner Nils Frøslev insisted that I should taste it. At Villa Vinoyou can buy it by the glass. It probably could be written off as past it’s best. But with the maturity Vindemia Criança 1998 has gained a new life with mature fruity flavours with dried apricots, honey and nuts. The acids are almost gone but the fruit concentration are marvellous with an almost botrytis-like taste and just enough oxidational notes to give it complexity.

It comes from one of those “new” spanish districts (at least for us who lives in Sweden) that we all should watch very closely – Terra Alta. Terra Alta is in Catalunya very near two other recently hyped districts – Priorat and Montsant. This wine comes from one of the best producers in the area Cellar de Xavier Clua. I can’t find Vindemia on their website and I guess it has been replaced by another garnacha blanca blend – Mas d’En Pol.